


To Move Fowards, Sometimes You Have to Go Back

by misura



Category: Alice (2009)
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 17:57:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>She'll say this for him: Jack's always been quick. "Come back with me. With us. We need you. </i>I<i> need you. If people see the Alice of legend by my side, they'll believe my intentions are honorable."</i></p><p>
  <i>"And are they?" she asks, but it's a low blow, and they both know it.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Move Fowards, Sometimes You Have to Go Back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aurilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurilly/gifts).



> I've always had a soft spot for this pairing, so when I spotted your request, I just couldn't resist writing a treat.

"Finally," Hatter says, and in one universe, this is where the end credits start rolling, because the faerie tale is over, and all that remains is the happy ever after nobody wants to see.

But then, as Hatter once said: _"Does this look like a kid's story to you?"_

Thus, in the other (that is to say: this) universe, this is the moment where someone who stands at just the right distance to be off-screen clears his throat and says: "Alice?"

(He's good at that, at the off-screen stuff. It comes from being raised to be a king and trained to be a spy. It leaves one feeling entitled to pull all the strings.)

 

They go out for brunch because Alice isn't sure how to explain to her mother that in an hour's time, her boyfriend is no longer her boyfriend and that her new boyfriend is _really_ different.

(She's sure that he is. She's smart enough to know, though, that there's different and _different_ , and that it's easy for emotions to get intensified in times of stress and life-threatening situations.)

Jack orders his coffee with the air of one who's trying very hard to show off how familiar he is with this world. Hatter rolls his eyes at her behind the waitress's (and Jack's) back and orders tea, then waffles over which flavor to get for a solid two minutes.

She feels _something_ when Jack smiles at her. It annoys her.

"Jack," she says, after Jack's gotten his coffee (black) and Hatter's gotten his tea (Forest Fruits). "What are you doing here?"

He's been here (approximately) twenty-five minutes, which means that (approximately) one day has passed in Wonderland.

"I wanted to see you," he says. Hatter intensely studies the menu.

"Don't," she says. "Don't lie to me, Jack."

"It's the truth." He sips his coffee, looking perfectly at ease. "Wonderland can take care of itself for a few days."

"Also, someone tried to kill him," Hatter comments. His face is still hidden behind the menu. "Minor detail. Just slipped his mind, I'm sure."

" _Kill_ you?" Her voice sounds too sharp, too loud.

Jack's expression doesn't change. "An isolated incident. Nothing you should concern yourself with. The Duchess is handling it."

Hatter puts the menu down. "What he means is, they haven't got a clue who's responsible."

"Alice," Jack says softly. Firmly. "I'm not hiding. I'm not running away. I'm just here to see you. In case - "

"He's fine," Hatter says. "Com-plete-ly unhurt. What, you think anyone could put a dent in that ego of his? Don't listen to him, Alice."

"I'm not." Jack might look resigned for the briefest of moments. Alice lifts her head. "If he wants something from me, he can ask me directly."

She'll say this for him: Jack's always been quick. "Come back with me. With us. We need you. _I_ need you. If people see the Alice of legend by my side, they'll believe my intentions are honorable."

"And are they?" she asks, but it's a low blow, and they both know it. Probably, even Hatter knows.

Good intentions, a load of ulterior motives and any means the end justifies: that's Jack for you.

 

Wonderland looks ... _changed_. Different.

The casino is gone, a tall building rising in its stead. "The new Great Library," Jack says.

"Rigged to explode at His Majesty's pleasure," Hatter says. "Or so rumor has it. So right now, it's just a bloody big building with no books in it, because Owl's holding them all hostage."

Alice feels the memory of a person who threatened you with a gun should not inspire you to smile.

Jack, apparently, agrees. "It's not funny."

"It's _not_ a serious problem," Hatter says. "Owl's just ... Owl. Wouldn't harm a fly."

"Which is why I can't justify sending a dozen Suits in there to drag her out," Jack says, adding, turning to Alice: "A rather clever tactic, wouldn't you agree?"

Hatter grimaces. "Whose?" Alice asks.

Jack's turn to grimace. "That's the question, isn't it?"

She wonders if he's got too many suspects, too few, or simply not enough evidence to make a solid accusation.

 

"Jack! And ... Hatter and his lady friend!" Dodo beams at the both of them as if he's never tried to kill them over a piece of jewelry. (Well, the Stone of Wonderland. Still.)

"Alice," Alice says. "And I'm not - "

" - not liking it when people don't use her name," Hatter says. "You are, however, completely right about the friend part. Very good friends, we are."

"Ah." Dodo smiles broadly. "Wonderful. And ... message received."

"You promised me you were going to talk to some people," Jack says.

"And so I did," Dodo says. "Alas, these things take time. I'm sure Your Majesty understands."

"I'm sure I do, indeed." Jack's smile is very thin.

"Well, don't let me keep you. Things to do, people to talk to."

 

Owl still carries her gun, but she seems less threatening than the first time Alice met her - especially after Hatter's bribed her with a small box of cherry tomatoes.

"I could offer her an entire vegetable garden," Jack muses as they descend the stairs.

The refugees are gone from the lower floors, leaving the building looking more like an old library. Emptier, too; less alive. A quiet, peaceful place for study.

"You could try," Hatter says and then, raising his voice: "Charlie! You still around here?"

" _Charlie_?" Somehow, Alice hadn't pictured running into Charlie again in a library. Libraries don't seem like places where one should run into knights.

"Who dares?" Libraries also don't seem like places where one should be waving around a sword.

A lucky thing, presumably, that Charlie's sword seems to get stuck in its scabbard so often. Hatter takes it all in stride. "Oi. It's me, and look who I brought."

"Your Majesty." Charlie curtesies.

"Alice!" Hatter says. "I brought Alice!"

"The Just Plain Alice of Legend. Never did I think to see the day." Charlie wipes at his eyes.

He's still wearing his armor, so hugging him still feels like getting slowly but painfully squeezed to death."Hey, Charlie. Invented anything interesting recently?"

"Ah." Charlie steps back. "Indeed I have. Something most interesting. Utterly brilliant, it goes without saying. Truly, an invention that will change the world as we know it."

"Sounds pretty impressive," Alice says. "So what is it?"

"Democracy," Jack says.

"I prefer the term 'royalty-by-appointment'. Or maybe 'rulership-by-choice'. Naming things can be so very difficult - really, most people have no idea."

 

"Democracy."

Hatter's teashop has been redecorated - and restocked.

"I've seen the way it works in your world," Jack says. "I believe we can make it work here. With proper guidance, of course."

Alice tries on one of the hats. " _Your_ guidance, you mean."

Jack hesitates only for a few seconds. "Yes."

Alice says nothing, waiting. (She doesn't, she thinks, have a face suitable for hats.)

"I have the training," Jack says. "The knowledge. The ability. It's true that perhaps I tend to ... meddle a bit too much, take things upon myself that I shouldn't, but that's why I need you."

"You don't have me," Alice says, putting the hat back on the shelf. "Not anymore, Jack."

"I know." Jack picks up one of the smaller, simpler hats. "Still. I hoped perhaps you might give me a second chance."

"Because the people here need the Alice of legend?" She allows him to put the hat on her head.

"No," Jack says. "Because I realized too late that _I_ need you. Someone who always got the better of me on the mat. Someone whose opinion I value more than that of anyone else. Someone who I know I will love for the rest of my life, even if I would never see her again."

Alice's mirror self looks back at her. "Words, Jack."

"Let me prove to you that I mean them."

He's always been a better liar than Hatter. "I need some time."

Jack's lips twist in a half-grin. "Of course. I'll try not to let myself get kidnapped while you think things over. Luckily, I have a lot of bodyguards - and rather fewer enemies."

 

_epilogue_

"Well _of course_ I tried to have you killed." Dodo leaned back in his chair, looking quite comfortable. "Nothing personal, you understand. Simple expediency."

"Expediency?" Alice repeated.

"Democracy, my dear," Dodo said. "The rule of the people. Or, as I like to call it: the future."

"I am going to make that happen," Jack said. "You _knew_ \- "

"What I _know_ , is that the future of Wonderland has no place for people like you in it. I spotted a chance to make that happen, and I took it. Now, there's no need to make a fuss about this, is there?"

"I suppose that depends. Are you going to try again?"

Dodo snorted. "Stupid question. Don't expect me to bother answering that."


End file.
